filum

See also: fílum

English

Etymology

From Latin fīlum (“thread”). Doublet of file.

Noun

filum (plural fila)

1. (anatomy) a filamentous anatomical structure

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Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *fī(s)lom, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰiH-(s-)lo-. Cognate with Lithuanian gysla.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈfiː.lum/, [ˈfiː.ɫ̪ʊ̃ˑ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈfi.lum/, [ˈfiː.lum]

Noun

fīlum n (genitive fīlī); second declension

1. thread, string, filament, fiber
2. texture, style, nature
3. wick of a lamp
4. accusative singular of fīlum
5. vocative singular of fīlum

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	fīlum	fīla
Genitive	fīlī	fīlōrum
Dative	fīlō	fīlīs
Accusative	fīlum	fīla
Ablative	fīlō	fīlīs
Vocative	fīlum	fīla

Synonyms

• (wick): mergulus

Descendants

• Corsican: filu
• Dalmatian: fil
• Eastern Romance:
  • Aromanian: hir, hjir, hiru
  • Romanian: fir
• Italian: filo, fila
• Old French: fil
  • French: fil
    • → English: file (“collection of papers”) (see there for further descendants)
    • ⇒ French: file
      • → English: file (“column of people”)
      • → Spanish: fila
• Old Leonese:
  • Asturian: filu
• Old Occitan:
  • Catalan: fil, fila
  • Occitan: fial
• Old Portuguese: fio
  • Galician: fío
  • Portuguese: fio
• Old Spanish: filo
  • Spanish: hilo, filo
    • → Cebuano: hilo
    • → Kapampangan: hilo
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Friulian: fîl
  • Romansch: fil
• Sardinian: filu, fiu
• Sicilian: filu
• Venetian: fiło, fil
• → Albanian: fill
• → English: filum

References

• filum in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• filum in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• filum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• filum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette